On Sunday, I opened the 1989 Donruss and 2007 Ultra. Today, I’ll be
opening the 1989 Donruss and 2012 Topps Chrome.

Oh, those 1989 Donruss – bright red, with the little black and white speckles
on the sides – they’re almost as recognizable as the bright yellow 1991 Fleer
cards. Besides the Carl Yastrzemski puzzle piece, I found a pair of rookies,
and some “name” ball players, but that’s about it. And again, tonight, I’m shut
out on Padres cards.

Larry Anderson – Astros

Harold Baines – Rangers

George Bell – Blue Jays (MVP)

Brian Dowing – Angels

Brian Dubois – Tigers (RC)

Mike Fitzgerald – Expos

Kirk Gibson – Tigers

Rene Gonzalez – Orioles

Danny Heep – Red Sox

Rick Honeycutt – A’s

Tom Magrann – Indians (RC)

Paul Molitor – Brewers (MVP)

Jeff Montgomery – Royals

Clay Parker - Yankees

Byrn Smith – Expos (Diamond King)

Frank Viola – Mets

Two of these cards particularly stand out for me. One, is the menacing
look of Kirk Gibson at the plate. This was more than likely the look Dennis
Eckersley faced in game 1 of the 1988 World Series. In his only plate
appearance of the series, Gibson currently the Diamondbacks manager, nailed
Eckersley’s 3-2 offering into the right field stands. He then gimped around the
bases with his strained left hamstring and injured right knee, pumping his fist
into the air.

As for the George Bell photo, I get a kick out of seeing the Jays hat
barely fitting atop his late ‘89s ‘fro. I’ve always liked the old Blue Jays
logo pictured here, and I’m glad they went back to a variation of it.

As for the 2012 Topps Chrome, it's dissapointing on two fronts: 1) There's only four cards to a pack; and 2) Among those four cards, there's nothing too exciting:

Clay Buchholz – Red Sox

Melky Cabrera – Giants

Felix Hernandez – Mariners

Jose Valverde- Tigers.

I kind of like the intense reaction exhibited by Jose Valverde. He must be happy about something!

Well, there's now four packs down and five to go (Remember, I'm not about to touch that Pete Rose pack). Tommorrow we'll tear open the two packs of 2012 Topps Opening Day.